


Would it be enough (if I could never give you peace?)

by afterglowposie



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, borderline alcoholic Josie bc alaric and reasons, inspired by taylor swift so yay, lowkey slowburn or is it fastburn idk, uuh underage drinking bc they're idiots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:41:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26067415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afterglowposie/pseuds/afterglowposie
Summary: "I know that you're afraid," Hope holds a hand up to silence Penelope quickly, "I know that you're afraid because it's been years since you've seen her, and you're with Maya now, but you're still waiting to feel that way again.""I'm with Maya," Penelope whispers. "I love her.""Pen... The love you had with Josie was the one that only existed in romance movies or some shit. Once in a lifetime, so if you're waiting to feel that way again, it's going to be forever."
Relationships: Penelope Park & Josie Saltzman, Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 19
Kudos: 139





	Would it be enough (if I could never give you peace?)

**Author's Note:**

> 95% of this fic is just me rambling about posie so i apologize in advance. anyways if ur reading this, i hope u enjoy :)

_ Salt air, and the rust on your door _

_ I never needed anything more _

_ Whispers of "Are you sure?" _

_ ~ _

It starts in August. 

Penelope barges into the kitchen, holding grocery bags in her arms haphazardly, MG and Hope quick to follow. Josie watches as the three of them start to tear through the kitchen she had just cleaned carelessly, MG sorting through the fridge and Hope starts to stock up the pantry, and Penelope makes herself comfortable on the counter. 

Josie’s eyes land on Penelope's tan skin, studying the freckle on her shoulder, how the bathing suit she’s been wearing all day seems to look better than it ever has before. Josie wonders if Penelope got away with going into the grocery store without a shirt. An hour ago, Josie had warned her to put one on, wanting to prevent a sunburn. Penelope just looked at her and insisted she would be fine. 

She only takes two steps back into the kitchen that she just spent an hour scrubbing when she steps in a track of wet sand on the floor. Josie looks over at Hope and MG who are now tearing into a bag of candy, and sees that they were kind enough to use the hose outside to rinse the sand off their legs and feet. 

Josie looks at the culprit, and Penelope seems to realize what she’s done at that exact time, her green eyes widening as she begins to defend herself with a string of meaningless words. 

Josie hits the one sunburnt spot she was able to find on Penelope, a weird patch of red skin on the girl's thigh. Penelope gasps dramatically, but instead of feigning hurt like she normally does, she only pokes Josie’s side in retaliation, causing Josie to jump back. 

“It was an accident, Jo!” Penelope insists, even as she begins to brush off even  _ more  _ sand onto the tile beneath them. 

“There’s a hose outside for this!” Josie pushes Penelope off the counter and starts ushering Penelope out the door, despite Penelope’s best attempts of apologizing and claiming there’s no more sand on her. Which is a lie. Josie can see it on her legs, stuck on her arms and in her hair. Even on her collarbone, which is Josie’s fault for when she threw a fistful of sand at her hours ago, but Josie’s not taking responsibility for it. Penelope knows the rules about the sand. Josie doesn’t want anybody tracking it into the house, even if it is her best friend.

The screen door slams shut between them, squeaking on rusty hinges and Josie crosses her arms stubbornly.

Penelope accepts her fate, and stays on the porch for a good five minutes with the hose, rinsing the sand off. By the time Josie deems Penelope’s work acceptable and trusts that she won’t track any more sand into the house, Lizzie’s done with her shower and is helping Hope and MG prepare dinner. 

Josie grabs the container of Aloe Vera from the fridge, narrowly dodging MG’s elbow as he turns around. She finds Penelope perched on the counter again, this time she’s watching Josie with a lazy grin. The two of them are quiet as Hope and Lizzie begin to argue over something simple, MG playing music from the stereo. Josie applies some of the Aloe to the burnt spot on Penelope’s thigh, scolding her as she does so. 

“I told you you’d get burned.” 

“You can barely tell.” Is Penelope’s simple answer as she runs her fingers through Josie’s hair. The simple gesture quickly turns into Penelope carefully ridding of all the knots that have gathered, Josie pressed between her legs as she relishes in the touch. 

Josie, like any normal person on this planet enjoys it when somebody plays with her hair, but she always finds it much more relaxing and enjoyable when Penelope does. Penelope takes the opportunity to braid Josie’s hair, but they both seem to want an excuse to stay near each other, Penelope taking her time, and just when she nearly finishes, she ends up messing up Josie’s hair again, claiming she’s made a mistake. 

Before Penelope can begin braiding her hair again, Lizzie announces that dinner is ready, which only ends up being a strange variety of food since the girls and MG couldn’t agree on what to cook. 

Josie gets pressed between Hope and Lizzie, Penelope laughing at the pout Josie makes at the realization. Her and Penelope usually sit next to each other. 

“When are your parents getting here?” MG asks through a mouthful of food, and Josie and Lizzie shrug in usion. 

“Tomorrow or the next day.” Josie supplies, but her and Lizzie both know that her father most likely won’t be arriving until Tuesday, leaving his daughter and their friends four days without any parental supervision, and their mother is already away on a new business trip. Only god knows when she will be coming back home. “Dad will be driving up. Mom might not make it.” 

None of their friends seem phased at the absence of their parents, and it saddens Josie that it’s normal for all of them. At least Penelope’s parents are kind enough to check in on them every few hours, especially when they were all stuck in MG’s truck to make the drive. Hope’s parents had called occasionally, but the calls tampered out once Hope told them they arrived at the beach house safely.

Dinner passes quickly after that, between Penelope and Lizzie’s bickering, added with MG’s storytelling. Throughout all of dinner, Penelope keeps glancing at Josie with an expression that’s unreadable- even after them being best friends for nine years. It’s strange too, since Penelope is usually subtle about that kind of thing. Josie’s never really caught Penelope glancing at her like this before. Penelope’s very charming and smooth with people most of the time- including Josie, so it’s a bit off putting when Josie doesn’t know why Penelope is looking at her.

It’s unnerving. 

She’s not used to being the center of Penelope’s attention like this- Penelope likes to focus more on Josie when they’re alone. Josie likes it that way, too. It makes her feel special, knowing that she isn’t one of Penelope’s conquests. 

Dinner passes smoothly after that, and MG helps Josie clear up the plates. Josie walks into the living room with the intention of asking the girls if they want dessert, but she’s greeted with the sight of Hope and Penelope on the floor wrestling over the TV remote as Lizzie looks bored, scrolling through her phone. Josie rolls her eyes. She’s probably texting Sebastian. 

Penelope and Hope suddenly stop their fight when Josie walks in, both of them looking embarrassed for different reasons. 

“Uh…” Josie starts awkwardly. It’s not the first time she’s witnessed Penelope and Hope getting rough with each other.

Penelope and Hope share a look, both of them attempting to shove the other to the side, and Penelope shouts, “I call rooming with Josie!” Before she manages to peel herself out of Hope’s grip- a surprising show of determination and strength from her, running up the stairs. 

Josie doesn’t have it in Penelope to tell her she should be rooming with Lizzie. Who’s her  _ twin,  _ but before she can remind Penelope of this, the girl reappears at the top of the stairs, holding a pile of what Josie can only assume is Lizzie’s clothes. She watches as Lizzie storms her way up the stairs, Penelope and Lizzie arguing loudly as they disappear into one of the rooms.

Hope gives Josie a useless shrug when Josie asks what the problem is. She’s pretty sure that Penelope and Hope agreed to room together and MG would get the couch. 

Josie knows that Penelope’s victorious when she re-emerges, no clothes in her hands and a goofy smile on her face. She winks at Josie before locking herself in the bathroom. 

“What’s that all about?” Hope questions. 

“I don’t know, it’s Penelope, she doesn’t need a reason, does she?” 

Hope hums in agreement, “I guess you’re right.” 

The two of them quickly get distracted when MG appears with his Nintendo Switch, happily showing them his island in Animal Crossing and Lizzie storming down the stairs. 

“I hate Penelope Park,” She announces dramatically, mostly to Josie. “Do we have to be friends with her, my dear sister?” 

“Yes.” Josie answers simply. Lizzie decides that she hates Penelope at least twice a week, so it’s nothing new.

Lizzie groans, squeezing herself on the couch between her and Hope. “I’d rather die.” 

“Then perish.” 

Lizzie gasps, clearly offended by Josie’s response as Hope hides her laugh. Lizzie looks at MG and Hope, “Do you see what I have to deal with? Josie  _ wants  _ us to suffer.” 

MG doesn’t react, still absorbed in his game and Hope shrugs, “None of us like Sebastian, but we all deal with him.” 

Lizzie mumbles something to herself, “That’s different, Hope. At least Sebastian is hot.” 

“Right, thanks for the eye candy, Liz.” 

“You’re welcome.” Lizzie answers, clueless to Hope’s voice dripping with sarcasm. 

Josie feels exhausted, but she’s kept awake for another three hours, in between talking to her friends and arguing with Lizzie over what movie they should watch. By the time she’s able to take a shower, it’s nearing midnight. When she steps out of the bathroom and into her room, Penelope’s already in bed. 

She jumps, and Penelope looks up from her phone, “Sorry. I can-” 

Josie shrugs, “It’s fine.” 

They’ve shared rooms before, changed in front of each other before, she doesn’t know why Penelope’s suddenly so…  _ Shy _ about it. She puts her pajamas on quickly, sighing contentedly as she finally tucks herself in. Her and Penelope have shared a bed together several times, so she has no idea why Penelope is giving her  _ that _ look, but she manages to brush it off. Penelope’s been looking at her like that more often recently, and Josie knows she’ll find out why eventually. She always does. 

Penelope shifts next to her when Josie turns off the light and mumbles a good night. Penelope doesn’t whisper one back, which is a rare occurrence for her. Josie’s trying to optimize the space between her and Penelope. She nearly falls off the edge, and she swears, she can hear Penelope frown across from her in the dark. 

“Jojo?” 

“Hmm?” 

“Can you look at me?” Penelope requests softly, and Josie groans. She rolls over anyways, although she feels exhausted and like she may pass out at any second. 

“Hi.” Josie whispers, Penelope’s thumb already brushing across her cheek.

“Hey.” 

“What’s wrong?” She questions, still waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dark. She can see the green of Penelope’s eyes, and feels comforted- she always does. 

“Nothing,” Penelope replies quickly, but Josie can feel Penelope hesitate, feel the sharp intake of air Penelope does before she decides to make the best of it, “I want to kiss you right now.” 

Josie becomes a spluttering, useless mess. Did she hear Penelope correctly? Is she high? When the hell did she get high? Where is this coming from? Josie swears, if Penelope came across the diary her father made her keep when she was younger, she’s going to kill her best friend. She quickly reminds herself that Penelope would never- at least, not to her. 

“You want to kiss me?” Josie finally stammers out.

Penelope hums. Gives a small nod in response. “Yes, I do.” 

Josie bites her lip nervously. She prays that this is the reason why Penelope has been looking at her strangely, and not some other strange explanation.

“You can, if you really want.” Josie whispers so quietly, she can barely hear herself. It almost feels like a promise when she does, and something explodes in her chest. 

Penelope Park wants to kiss her. 

Her  _ best  _ friend. 

The best friend she’s been crushing on since spring break of sophomore year. 

Holy _ shit.  _

“Are you sure?” Penelope whispers.

Josie hesitates. She  _ is  _ sure, that’s the problem. She’s been wanting to kiss Penelope for months now, years if she was honest with herself. Is she really willing to risk her friendship with Penelope for something she wants? Isn’t that selfish of her?

“Of course I am.” Josie nods, trying to not seem too eager- that would just make it weird. Josie has kissed a handful of people, like that girl last year named Jade, and more recently it was some guy that she thought she was interested in- turns out, not really. He was just there and was a wanted distraction from Penelope. 

So, yeah, Josie would say she’s decent at kissing, but it doesn’t help that she’s becoming extremely nervous at the idea of kissing Penelope Park. She’s not sure what’ll happen. What if things get awkward between them? 

When Penelope  _ does  _ kiss her, Josie’s not sure what to do, so she ends up lying there, almost motionlessly, until her brain is able to go,  _ hey! Kiss her back, you dumbass! _

She finally reacts, and… It’s a bit awkward, neither of them are sure how to do this. It’s weird to think that something they’ve both done before becomes hard because it’s  _ them.  _ Penelope moves her lips, and Josie can’t help but follow. Eventually, they fall into a rhythm, their lips moving together in a way that stops being awkward and becomes addictive. 

It’s hard to tell how much time they spend like that, but Josie doesn’t care. All that really mattered was that she’s with Penelope, able to touch her and taste her and  _ be  _ with her. A realization hits her in that moment, but she’s too afraid to admit it. 

Penelope eventually manages to peel herself away, letting out a short laugh when Josie chases after her desperately. 

“Somebody’s eager.” Penelope teases, but she seems to be in the same daze that Josie is in, too. 

“Shut up.” Josie grumbles. 

“I wanted to ask if you wanted to go for a walk.” 

“It’s one in the morning.” 

“I just want to see the beach again.” Penelope tells her, pulling out a cardigan, looking at Josie with a small pout. 

Josie sighs. 

Penelope’s not going to accept no for an answer, or she’ll just end up going alone, which is the last thing Josie wants. 

“I’ll go with you,” Josie answers, “But I want your cardigan.” 

“It’s a sweater.” 

“It’s a cardigan.” 

“No, my mom made it and said-” 

“Your mom knows it’s a cardigan.” 

Penelope grumbles, handing the cardigan off to Josie, and ends up digging through Josie’s backpack for one of her sweatshirts. 

“They’re the same thing.” Penelope tells her, and Josie shakes her head. 

“No, they’re two very different things.” 

“A sweater and a sweatshirt are different things. A sweater and a cardigan are the  _ same. _ ” 

“Fine,” Josie concedes, no matter how much it pains her. “They’re the same.” 

After a few minutes of trying to sneak out as quietly as they can, without waking up MG from the couch, they finally manage to open the front door, and the screen door without it squeaking too loudly. 

MG shifts from the couch, but doesn’t get up. 

They shouldn’t be walking on the beach alone at night. Especially in a town they’re not that familiar with. Sure, Josie has gone almost every summer, but she’s with her parents or Lizzie, and isn’t sneaking out of the beach house at one in the morning. 

It’s the Penelope Park effect. 

Despite Josie’s arguments, Penelope insists that they’ll be fine. Not many people like to be on the beach after dark, plus, they have their trusty flashlights and cell phones if anything goes wrong. 

They don’t walk very far, staying in the same area as they play with the sand and walk along the water. Josie attempts to knock Penelope over when one particularly big wave comes crashing near them, but she fails and ends up getting more water all over herself. 

There’s a few other people on the beach with them, mostly older couples who give them polite smiles as they walk past, one old woman who asks where their parents are, and an old man who looks annoyed with their presence as he sits with his fishing line. It doesn’t bother Penelope who keeps laughing at Josie, and splashing water at her to get her attention. 

Josie gives it to her, even lets Penelope sneak in a kiss when she asks sweetly- and an extra one, but only because Josie can’t help herself. Penelope’s leaning in for a third one when Josie slaps Penelope’s shoulder and points towards the old man. 

Penelope glances over her shoulder to see what stole Josie’s attention so quickly, and sees that the old man who’s been standing watch over his fishing line ever since they arrived is reeling in a fish. 

“It’s just a fish,” Penelope tells Josie. “That’s why he’s fishing, Jo.” 

“It’s not just a  _ fish _ ,” Josie tells her. “It’s a shark!” 

“And?” 

“They’re endangered, Penelope.” 

“That’s why we have shark week.” 

“He should put it back. Sharks die painfully when they’re out of water, did you know that? Their organs get crushed and they die slowly. Imagine if your organs were getting crushed because some jerk-”

“Did shark week teach you that?”

“I’m serious!” 

“Fine,” Penelope sighs. “I’ll ask him to put it back, since you’re so concerned.” 

“Thank you. It looks like a sand shark.” 

Penelope grabs a hold of her hand, “You’re coming with me.” 

“What? No, I’ll just- Penelope, it’s a creepy man and it’s dark…” 

“We’re saving the damn shark.” Penelope tells her with sudden determination, and Josie only nods along stupidly, even though she really doesn’t want to be talking to some creepy man in the dark. 

“Ted Bundy.” Josie whispers, mostly to herself. 

Penelope drags Josie along with her, and she stops in front of the man suddenly. He looks at them expressionless, and Josie guesses it isn’t the man’s first time with somebody randomly approaching him. 

“Excuse me, sir,” Penelope says bravely, grabbing the old man’s attention. Josie watches with a sad face as the shark pup continues to flop around and struggle in his hand. “Is that a baby sand shark?” 

“Shark pup.” Josie corrects, digging her toe into the sand. Penelope shoots her a look. 

He takes a few puffs from his pipe, and Josie rolls her eyes. Who still smokes that way? “Who’s askin?” He questions, clearly not intimidated by two young girls approaching him on the beach in the dark. 

“I am,” Penelope answers stubbornly. “It’s illegal to kill sharks in this area, even if they’re stupid sand sharks. Put it back.” 

The old man laughs. Josie tugs on Penelope’s arm, not wanting to draw any more attention to them. As sad as it makes her, she can handle knowing that a shark was taken out of water to die. It’s not like Josie’s the one who committed the crime. 

By some miracle, the old man pulls out a knife and cuts the line. “Good luck unhooking him.” 

He walks away after that leaving Penelope and Josie alone with a sand shark pup- at least, that’s Josie’s most accurate guess as to which species it is. The two of them struggle to unhook the shark, both of them narrowly saving their fingers when the shark snaps at them. Josie ends up bringing it to the water, holding it by its tail as Penelope manages to unhook it, and the shark swims off. 

Penelope cheers as it swims into the waves, and Josie laughs. She’s always wanted to see a shark- even if what just happened wasn’t the way Josie imagined, it still gives her a freeing feeling in her chest- even a small high. 

She doesn’t think much of it, but that night she realizes she only gets that feeling when she’s with Penelope. 

The next morning, she walks into the kitchen while MG and Penelope eat some cereal. Penelope’s re-telling the story of the shark last night, only with much more exaggerated details, and MG’s listening to her, eyes wide. Josie can’t help but roll her eyes as she sips on her water. 

“Dude, I’m serious! We saved a shark last night!” 

MG looks to Josie, “Is she telling the truth?” He demands, and Josie nods, although she has no idea if Penelope had fed him other lies. 

“Yeah.” Josie says, trying her best to sound nonchalant. 

“Holy shit.” 

Her and Penelope share identical smiles. 

~

That day is spent at the beach again, until they all walk back to the house with sunburns and sand all over them. Penelope and Hope make some excuse to borrow MG’s car, and come back within an hour with a few bottles of wine. 

MG, Lizzie, and Josie stare at the wine when Penelope places it on the counter and runs off to take a shower. Hope stands off to the side, prepared to deal with any responses from the three of them. 

Eventually, Lizzie counts off the bottles. They have six. 

“Is this enough for us?” She questions. 

“Lizzie, there’s only five of us.” 

“Oh, I forgot Penelope was here,” She comments, although that doesn’t make Lizzie’s math add up, then starts inspecting the bottles, reading every detail on the label. Josie rolls her eyes. Lizzie looks over at Josie, “Do you want some?”

Josie shrugs. She’s never been much of a drinker- at least not compared to Lizzie and their friends. 

“I’ll have some.” 

Penelope comes rushing down the stairs, and slides into the kitchen on her socks. 

Everyone immediately starts complaining about the wine then, Lizzie insisting that Penelope could have found a better brand, and Penelope claims she was going to get carded if she bought anything else, with Hope backing her up. MG ignores the chaos going on between them as he opens one of the bottles, very calmly pouring himself and Josie a cup. 

The moment MG accidentally spills some, and the wine splatters over the counter, the three other girls look at him as Josie casually sips from her cup.

Josie has never seen the three of them so desprate for alcohol, and the moment MG’s done pouring them cups, he’s rewarded with many  _ thank you _ ’s from them. 

The night ends with Josie laying in bed, staring at the ceiling as Penelope traces her fingers over every inch of skin she can get. Josie revels in the touch, which only spurs Penelope. Josie wonders how she survived before this, with her and Penelope being friends, wonders how she survived without feeling the way Penelope’s cold fingers ghost across her cheek, her stomach. It’s hard to believe she used to. 

“What’s going through that pretty head of yours?” Penelope whispers, breaking the silence. 

Josie fumbles for Penelope’s hand, and once she finds it, she laces their fingers and pulls their hands close to her chest. She can feel her heart hammering in her chest, and she knows Penelope does, too.

“Nothing,” Josie lies, but she quickly changes her answer, “You.” 

Penelope giggles. Kisses her. It must be the wine. 

“Am I always on your mind?” 

“Yes.” 

A silent moment passes, and Josie's afraid she’s said the wrong thing. Kissing and lingering touches don’t mean they’re  _ together _ . Doesn’t mean Penelope feels the same. 

“You’re always on my mind, too.” 

_ ~ _

_ Your back beneath the sun _

_ Wishin' I could write my name on it _

_ Will you call when you're back at school? _

_ I remember thinkin' I had you. _

_ ~ _

Penelope drops to the towel with a sigh, beginning to dig through Josie’s backpack. She swears that the girl had come prepared and packed all of Penelope’s favorite snacks. She comes up empty handed, the bag of sour patch she had seen Josie pack apparently doesn’t exist anymore. 

When Penelope looks up to ask Josie, she sees Josie with the bag of sour patch.

Of course. Josie always insists she doesn’t like Penelope’s candy, but ends up eating it anyway. Penelope kicks some sand in her direction, and Josie doesn’t look up from her book, happily snacking on  _ Penelope’s  _ sour patch. 

Josie only reacts when Penelope sighs dramatically, sitting closer to Josie and looking over her shoulder, trying to figure out if the book she’s reading is actually more entertaining than her. 

“Why won’t you look at me?” Penelope whines, tracing the back of Josie’s shoulders, fingers following the strap of her bathing suit. She has the strange urge to write her name there, only for her and 

Josie rolls her eyes. “You’re dramatic.”

“You start school in three weeks,” Penelope says, “I’m not sorry that I want all of your attention.” 

“You start school soon, too.” 

“Yeah, after you do. I don’t go to Salvatore, remember?” 

Josie drops her book. Every summer, she spends unlimited time with Penelope, and just before summer ends, she’s reminded that they go to separate schools- in the same town, but  _ still. _ School starts up, and suddenly the most interactions Josie gets from Penelope is a few text messages and them hanging out on an odd weekend. 

“Just come to Salvatore with me, my dad will give you a spot.” 

Penelope laughs, entertaining the idea. She can’t imagine going to the same school as all of her friends- the idea makes her feel weird, with all of their preppy school uniforms and charity events, and then there’s Penelope at Mystic Falls. She talks to people and has friends there, but she doesn’t care for them the way she cares for Josie. 

“My parents would kill me.” Penelope settles on, because it’s  _ true _ . Everyone knows that the Salvatore School is for rich families. Her parents can’t afford it. 

Josie pouts. Penelope wants to kiss it away. 

“Just don’t forget to call.” Penelope jokes, but Josie’s pout only deepens. 

There’s no space between them, their legs and knees pressed together, but Josie managed to close any other space between them, kissing Penelope. It doesn’t last as long as Penelope wishes it would, and she pulls Josie into another one when she tries to pull away. Josie giggles, pushes Penelope off of her. 

“Get away, you’re wet.” 

“We’re at the beach.” Penelope answers, making a show of shaking her hair, successfully getting some droplets on Josie. 

“Stop- ew,  _ stop. _ ” 

“Give me my candy.” 

“No.” 

From the water, Hope and MG watch as this unfolds, both of them surprised when Josie kisses Penelope briefly-  _ that’s  _ new for them.

“Since when did they become a thing?” MG asks. 

Hope shrugs, “Last night? Who knows with those two.” 

~

The next day, they wake up early when Josie and Lizzie get a call from their father saying that he can’t make the drive up. He gives them some half-assed excuse, but requests that they drive back so he doesn’t have to worry about them being up there alone for a few more days. 

They end up piling back into MG’s truck at Alaric’s request, and drive back home is relatively boring, Penelope ends up napping through most of it, her head resting on Josie’s shoulder as Josie listens to her music through earbuds, doing her best to keep her car sickness at bay.

Hope, Lizzie and MG drop Penelope and Josie off at Josie’s house, before MG zooms them off to Sebastian’s house. Josie really didn’t feel like spending any more time in the car, even if it was a few minutes, and she didn’t want to end up in a house that isn’t hers after the long drive. 

She had every intention of taking a shower and doing her laundry, but she ends up stumbling through the house and finds her place on the couch in the living room after Penelope kisses her. They had managed to turn the TV on, but it’s all background noise as Josie only focuses on the way Penelope’s kissing her. 

It’s raw and filthy, without a doubt, and if Josie were to stumble across anyone doing this, she’d be disgusted. But she doesn’t  _ care.  _ Not when she’s meeting Penelope for kiss after kiss, hands dangerously high on Penelope’s thighs. 

Josie has no idea how long they spend on the couch that night, but she  _ does  _ know that things get more intense and it doesn’t feel like they’re stopping any time soon. 

Penelope nips at her bottom lip, tilts her hips forward and Josie’s hand lands on her ass at the movement. Josie’s not exactly sure what she’s doing- if the way she’s been kissing Penelope is any sign, and she has no idea what to do with herself once she realizes where her hand has landed and-

“You spanked me!” 

Josie gasps for air. 

“I did not!” She splutters out, then manages to find the strength to accuse Penelope. “You were… you were  _ grinding  _ on me!” 

Penelope fauxs innocence, her nails scratching lightly at Josie’s collarbones. Josie swallows roughly. Penelope Park is going to be the cause of her premature death, she’s sure of it. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Penelope says. 

“Yes, you do.” Josie replies stubbornly, and Penelope giggles quietly before kissing Josie again, softer than before. Just when Josie gets comfortable with the pace Penelope had set, she pulls away, pressing a kiss to Josie’s jaw before nibbling on her earlobe. 

_ Jesus. _

“I wouldn’t mind if you did it again.” Penelope whispers huskily into her ear, and Josie groans in frustration. 

_ Jesus Christ.  _ Why does Penelope have to talk like that? It’s so… frustrating.

She’s not a fucking creep. She’s not going to…  _ spank _ Penelope again. She didn’t even  _ do  _ that. She just so happened to rest her hand on Penelope’s ass a little harder than she had intended. Clearly, she wasn’t being as smooth as she thought she was. Admittedly, Josie had forgotten about the whole spanking incident when Penelope kissed her again. 

Penelope moves again, tentatively, “This is okay?” 

“Yeah.” Josie breathes out. She doesn’t think she would be against anything Penelope wants to do, but she finds it sweet that she asked- the bar must be that low.

A slight rock of hips at Josie’s confirmation, more confident than before and Josie tries not to focus too much on the fact that Penelope Park- her  _ best  _ friend- is  _ grinding  _ on her. How the hell is she supposed to react to that?

Josie glances over Penelope’s shoulder, planning on finding some weird shape in the ceiling to fixate on that, but instead, she’s greeted with an unwanted sight. 

Josie yelps, then bites her mouth to stifle the sound. Her father is in the kitchen, his back to them, sorting through the cupboards and humming to himself. At least Josie thinks he is. She has absolutely no idea how he hasn’t heard the two of them yet, with them panting and moaning against each other. He continues to make his cup of water as Penelope places a trail of kisses on her jaw- she even nips a bit- not hard enough to leave a mark- at least Josie hopes. 

_ God. Please don’t stop.  _

What the hell is wrong with her? She’s letting Penelope grind against her and kiss her senseless when her father is one very  _ close  _ room away. All he has to do is stop humming to himself to hear their heavy breathing, or turn around to catch them in a compromising position. Josie hopes that he doesn’t ever turn around, and just goes back to his room. 

“Wait,” Josie finally huffs out,  _ finally  _ reacting to Alaric’s presence. “Stop.” 

Penelope freezes her movements, looking at Josie in concern, “Did I do something wrong?” 

Josie doesn’t have time to answer as Alaric begins to turn around, and she practically shoves Penelope off of her. Penelope looks at her in confusion, and Josie gives her an apologetic look as her father makes his way into the living room. 

“Hey girls, what’s going on?” He asks, glancing at the TV. “Watching Stranger Things?” 

Both of them nod aggressively, and Josie pulls a nearby blanket over her, before placing one around Penelope’s shoulders- who’s staying firmly planted to where Josie had pushed her. Josie doesn’t think she’s ever seen Penelope so quiet, staring at the TV and toying with the blanket Josie had just put on her. 

“Yep.” Josie squeaks. 

“Alright, well, don’t stay up too late,” He comments, seemingly oblivious to the sudden tension in the room. “School’s starting up soon, you don’t want your sleep schedule to be all messed up.” 

“I know, Dad.” Josie answers. She wonders if he even knows that Lizzie’s at a party right now. She doesn’t dare to snitch on her, knowing that he wouldn’t hesitate to grab his crossbow and threaten Sebastian- she still doesn’t even know why her father owns that thing, anyways. 

“Okay, good night.” He says simply, then goes down the hall and disappears into his room. 

Penelope looks at her. 

“No,” Josie grumbles before Penelope can say anything. “I’m never kissing you down here again, stay away.” 

“Trust me, Jojo,” Penelope drawls, “Nothing ruins the mood more than your father and that awful beard.” 

Josie flushes just thinking about what would have happened if her father didn’t interrupt them. Were they really about to have sex on the couch in the living room? The idea isn’t as entertaining as it was a mere five minutes ago, which is a  _ good _ thing, isn’t it? They were moving a little too fast, focusing on what they want rather than what they should do. She wouldn’t be able to sit on her couch ever again without blushing, or even look at it if they had gone that far. 

All they did was make out for a while, but after  _ that  _ particular night, Josie steers clear of her living room for three days. 

Even Penelope blushes one night she’s over when Lizzie and MG ask them if they want to watch a movie.

~

Her and Penelope are meant to be, in some sort of strange way.

She knows it because of the way her heart soars when she makes Penelope laugh so hard that she's bent over and wiping tears from her eyes. She knows it in the way the sun hits Penelope’s face every morning as Penelope sleeps next to her in her bed, wearing one of Josie’s oversized tank tops. She knows it in the way when they’re laying on the couch and Penelope’s fingers dig into her side- not hard enough to make her flinch away- but just barely there and it tickles- Penelope usually does it when she's struggling to keep her eyes open, watching a random movie at odd hours in the morning.

Her and Penelope are meant to be, but that may just be the hopeless romantic in Josie talking.

She thinks that maybe Lizzie knows it, too. The way she constantly asks her about Penelope. Lizzie’s not as close to Penelope as Josie is, but Lizzie and Penelope have always been civil. Lizzie will come home from hanging out with Sebastian and ask  _ are you two finally dating?  _ When she sees them sitting on the couch, or when Josie’s alone, Lizzie will pull her to the side dramatically and speak in a hushed tone,  _ did you ask Penelope out yet? _

It’s sweet, in Lizzie’s strange way. It’s nice to know that Lizzie’s in her corner- even though Lizzie still insists that she hates Penelope, they both know that’s not true. Josie tells Lizzie about Penelope, the things she doesn’t tell anybody else. How Penelope’s nothing but sweet and kind to her, to the way Penelope kisses her (and yes, Josie mentions the awkward time their father nearly caught her and Penelope on the couch.)

So, yeah, Lizzie knows. Knows just about everything that goes on between Josie and Penelope. 

~

Josie wakes up to the sounds of her father’s drunken stupor downstairs. She hears the loud clunk of his keys hitting the bowl by their front door, and a few drunken curses when the table scratches against the floor. It’s an image she’s seen so many times that she knows she’ll hear him in the kitchen within the next minute or so, rummaging through the fridge and slamming the cupboards open and shut. Sometimes, if he comes home late enough, he’ll see that the sun is up and put some coffee in the brewer before passing out on the couch. Josie likes to go down after she knows he’s asleep, covers him with a blanket and cleans up the mess he’s made. Sometimes, like this morning, she’ll feel guilt creeping in if she doesn’t go down to help him find his way to his bedroom. 

She’s attempting to get out from underneath her heavy sheets to go inspect the damage her father has left behind, but cold fingers brush against her skin before they thread into the fabric of her shirt. 

She settles back down then, rolling onto her shoulder to face Penelope. Josie loves the way Penelope looks in the mornings, sweet and content. Josie has forgotten to close the blinds on her window last night, the beginning of the day shining in. 

Penelope’s struggling to keep her eyes open, and Josie’s struggling to stay afloat in them. Josie had always loved Penelope’s eyes, but she never remembered being able to fall into them so easily. She had always found solace in Penelope’s presence, the way Penelope had always offered her unwavering support. Eventually, Penelope manages to fight off the last bout of sleep and gives Josie a lopsided smile when she catches Josie staring. 

Josie finds herself mirroring Penelope, her own mouth curving into a smile. If it were any other morning, or person, Josie would have felt embarrassed for being caught. 

She pushes some hair out of Penelope’s face, and begins to toy with it. She’s not sure if she should say anything, or where she should put her hand now. She has to resist the urge to place it on the small of Penelope’s back and let her fingers trace on the warm skin. Josie knows Penelope wouldn’t mind, and if she did, she wouldn’t hesitate to voice it with Josie, but she’s still so unsure. 

They’re more than friends, aren’t they? Friends help each other do make up and share beds during sleepovers, but they don’t  _ kiss _ , or smile at each other the way Penelope smiles at Josie. They don’t enjoy each other’s embrace the way Josie finds herself enjoying Penelope’s, do they? 

Her father slams a cupboard shut, harder than usual, luring her out of her thoughts about Penelope. Even from upstairs, she can hear the way the mugs rattle, and her father is suddenly cursing when she hears the unmistakable sound of glass cracking. She begins to bite on her lower lip- a nervous tick she’s been working at for years to rid of. Her lips are more cracked and chapped than she remembers. Does she still bite her lip that much? She swears she had chapstick on yesterday, or maybe she had just thought she did, after she tasted vanilla when she kissed Penelope. Penelope’s obsessed with vanilla, after all. 

She’s itching to go downstairs to help him, that way the collateral damage won’t be as bad, but Penelope lets go of her shirt, fingers slipping under. 

Josie shivers. Penelope’s fingers always seem to be freezing. She wonders if Penelope knows this and doesn’t care, or if she has no idea. Josie usually would be pushing anybody away if they felt as cold as Penelope, but she doesn’t. She doesn’t even move when Penelope’s hand skims up her side, leaving a trail of goosebumps. 

A door slams shut, and Josie knows that her father has made it to his room and will be locking himself in there for the next two days, leaving her and Lizzie to fend for themselves. 

Josie had begun to worry so much about her father, that she barely registered Penelope poking her to get her attention. She pokes her in the ticklish spot on Josie’s stomach, and she does her best to push herself out of Penelope’s reach. 

She fails miserably. 

Both of Penelope’s hands are under her shirt, gripping onto her hips and pulling Josie back to her. Josie wishes that the simple action didn’t have such a big affect on her, but it’s  _ Penelope.  _ Who could ever blame her? Embarrassingly so, Josie’s breath hitches when Penelope rakes her nails over her skin gently.

Josie licks her lips nervously, realizing that Penelope has become dangerously close. Penelope seems unphased by it, but when has Penelope been affected by anything? 

Despite Josie’s previous attempts to help soothe out Penelope’s hair, it’s still tousled and a curly mess. Josie feels a bit out of place under Penelope’s stare. She just woke up, she must look terrible and she can feel the beginning of a headache coming around. She likes to think that the cure is a kiss from Penelope. 

Messily and more clumsier than usual, Josie uses one of her hands and finds Penelope’s. She pulls it away from it’s purchase under her shirt. Penelope begins to frown until Josie pulls their laced fingers to her lips, pressing a few small kisses to Penelope’s fingers.

Penelope mumbles something that doesn’t register in Josie’s ears, she doesn’t know what it is, all she knows that they’re both smiling. That they’re both smiling and it feels so much like a home building around them that Josie prays that Penelope never stops smiling at her like that. 

Penelope cups the side of Josie’s face, and Josie’s eyes flutter shut as she leans into the touch. Josie feels hesitant. Does she wait for Penelope to whisper something between them? Does she kiss Penelope, or should she make an excuse to leave?

Her choice is made up for her when soft lips press against hers. Soft and cautious, in a way that makes Josie think Penelope is just as nervous as her. Josie’s not sure where the surge of confidence comes from, but she parts Penelope’s mouth and slides her tongue inside, the opposite of Penelope’s patient movements. 

Penelope makes a small noise of surprise in the back of her throat, but she ends up reciprocating eagerly. Their kiss becomes sloppy, and they’re fumbling with bedsheets to get closer to each other. It doesn’t take long before Penelope is pushing her against pillows, sucking on Josie’s pulse point, kissing there first, and Josie tries her best to not completely fall apart at the action. Penelope repeats the action, sucking a bit harder than before and Josie can’t help the string of curses that fall past her lips. Since when did Penelope get so good at this kind of stuff? 

Penelope laughs a bit, and Josie  _ swears  _ she feels Penelope smiling as she kisses her neck again. Josie doesn’t want Penelope to stop, but she’s also desperate to kiss her again. Josie threads her fingers through Penelope’s hair, tugging gently. Penelope hears the silent question, but she’s leaning up and kissing her again, starting out more confident than before. 

It’s sloppy, but Josie doesn’t mind. She’s perfectly fine with spending her mornings like this- waking up next to Penelope and being able to kiss her in all the ways she always wanted to. After what only feels like seconds but must be at least ten minutes, Penelope manages to taper off the amount of kisses they share, until they’re laying with their foreheads pressed together and Josie’s lungs burn for air, but in a way that makes her smile dumbly. 

When Josie finally finds it in herself to open her eyes again, she’s instantly met with green. She blushes a bit, not aware that Penelope had been watching her. Penelope’s lips look swollen and bruised, to the point where it may even hurt, but Penelope leans in for another quick kiss before Josie can mention it, and she forgets what she was even planning on saying. 

“I’ve been meaning to tell you…” Penelope whispers, her voice deadly serious as Josie stares at her, waiting for the worst thing imaginable to come tumbling out of her lips.

“What?” Josie asks impatiently. 

“I think your house is haunted,” Penelope replies, “Your dad is always mad, and that must be why, don’t you think?” 

Josie stares at Penelope stupidly before she scoffs and attempts to push Penelope out of her bed. Eventually, she succeeds and Penelope falls to the floor with a loud thud. Mere seconds later, Penelope’s head pops up, looking at Josie with offense. It’s not the first time Penelope has told Josie that she thinks her house is haunted, and it’s not the first time Josie has pushed her around in response.

It certainly won’t be the last time, either. It’ll happen the exact same every time, except for this morning. 

Josie makes her way to the edge cautiously, to inspect the damage she caused, and she finds Penelope sitting on the floor, as if she sensed Josie would check on her this time. Penelope looks a bit defeated, frowning a bit despite the fact that Josie had just heard her laughing. 

She wants to kiss Penelope again. 

Before she can do down a spiral of wondering if she  _ should,  _ she kisses her, leaning over the edge of her bed to do so, and Penelope’s kissing her back like she was waiting for Josie to. Josie mumbles something about needing to get up, and Penelope manages to steal at  _ least _ four more kisses before Josie’s able to peel herself away from soft lips. 

She walks into her bathroom, puts some toothpaste on her toothbrush, and screeches when she sees her reflection in the mirror. It’s not that she looks like shit or anything _,_ but it’s obvious that she just rolled out of bed. It’s nothing like that Josie’s freaking out about. 

It’s her neck. Her fucking  _ neck.  _

Josie always bruised easily, on her legs, on her arms. She almost seemed to get more bruises than Lizzie despite them having nearly the same amount of clumsiness- although Lizzie would never agree. Maybe Josie just always had sensitive skin or something, but she never stopped to think about  _ why  _ she bruised so easily. 

She stares at herself in the mirror for a few seconds, mostly in some sort of shock. She can’t walk downstairs looking like this. She can’t walk  _ anywhere  _ looking like this, for that matter. 

God, her parents are going to kill her if they ever see the marks Penelope left behind. 

And so  _ many.  _ Josie doesn’t remember Penelope attacking her neck like this, but that also could have simply been because Josie was too busy trying to remember her name as Penelope was… well, being Penelope. 

Penelope runs into the bathroom, holding out one of her sneakers like a sword, “Where’s the spider?!” 

The sight reminds Josie of when they were seven and Josie found a huge, hairy spider right inside the back door, and Penelope came running to kill it. Since then, Penelope has been Josie’s personal spider-slayer. Jose rewards her with food. Josie laughs at Penelope's eagerness to come to her rescue, but quickly sobers up when she remembers why she had freaked out in the first place. 

“There’s no spider! There’s…” Josie gestures to her neck. “There’s just  _ this!” _ She hisses. 

Penelope has the decency to look guilty, but Josie knows her well enough to know that the glint in her eyes is pride. 

“I’ll help you cover them.” Penelope says simply. 

“I look like I was mauled!” 

“You weren’t complaining!” 

Josie flushes, because Penelope is right. She wasn’t exactly complaining about it, if anything she was enjoying it and encouraging Penelope to continue. Instead of saying anything and embarrassing herself further, she picks up the toothbrush she had abandoned and begins brushing her teeth aggressively. 

Penelope watches this unfold, clearly amused by Josie’s worry. Josie wonders how Penelope would feel if  _ she  _ had left marks like that on her. She knows that Penelope would somehow make it seem like it was on purpose and make it seem…  _ charming. _ Josie doesn’t have that effect on people, and she constantly wonders how Penelope does.

Josie elects to ignore Penelope’s staring. She finishes brushing her teeth, and goes to shoo Penelope out of the bathroom so she can deal with her neck alone, not really wanting to see Penelope’s proud smirk. It’ll just end up with the small part of Josie that wants to show them off will come out. The  _ last  _ thing they need is for everyone to see.

She ends up pressed against the counter as Penelope kisses her sweetly. 

Penelope tastes like chocolate, different than before. 

“Did you seriously eat chocolate already? Where did you even get it?” Josie asks, always surprised by Penelope’s sweet-tooth. It’s like she can’t go thirty seconds without some sort of candy. Josie finds it endearing, in a strange way. 

Penelope hums against her lips in agreement, before dipping down to press a kiss to her jaw, “I needed a quick fix before I had the chance to kiss you again.” 

Aw. How sweet, but not Penelope’s strongest moment. 

“You really know how to make a girl feel special.” 

Penelope pulls her lips away, a movement Josie doesn’t enjoy, but Penelope’s looking at her with half-lidded eyes and her mouth is swollen, “You are special, and I plan on showing you just how-”

“What the fuck?” Lizzie screeches. 

Penelope and Josie jump nearly a foot into the air. Josie had forgotten she shares a bathroom with her sister. It’s very rarely when Penelope forgets to find her voice around Lizzie and doesn’t have some sort of comeback, and right now is one of those moments. 

“What the fuck is  _ that? _ ” Lizzie continues to screech, leering at Josie’s neck. 

“They are injuries of the soft tissues that resulted in breakage of local capillaries and the leakage of red blood-” Penelope begins, and Lizzie holds her hand up. 

“It’s too fucking early for this,” She says. “I’m going to leave, and come back in five minutes. Once I return, both of you better be done with…” Lizzie gestures between them dramatically. “Whatever  _ this  _ is, or I’ll have MG come over to help me gouge out my eyeballs.” 

“It’ll be easier to bleach them.” Penelope mumbles, and Josie elbows her. She doesn’t need Penelope to give Lizzie any ideas. 

Later that morning, after Penelope helps her cover her neck like she promised, they walk into the kitchen and find Lizzie and MG watching YouTube tutorials on how to properly gouge somebody’s eyeballs out. 

It’s a bit gruesome- okay, gruesome enough to make Josie lose her appetite at some of the descriptions the videos offer, but Penelope’s munching on the crepes that MG made without a care in the world. Josie must admit they look delicious, until Penelope grabs the can of whipped cream and manages to get some all over the four of them. 

“Seriously?! I’m doing important research!” Lizzie scolds as MG laughs, and Josie frowns. 

“MG would never help you gouge out your own eyeballs.” Penelope states. 

“MG would help me do anything.” 

They look to MG, and he smiles shyly, “Uh… I draw the line at gouging out your eyeballs, Liz. Sorry. One of us has to have common sense, y’know?” 

Penelope quickly distracts Josie from Lizzie and MG’s argument when she carelessly sprays some more whipped cream onto Josie’s shirt. If Penelope weren’t laughing and her nose crinkling up in that adorable way, she would have murdered Penelope by now. 

Penelope manages to pull Josie into her lap, and smears some whipped cream all over her face. 

Josie can see the moment Penelope regrets this, trying to scramble out of the chair and away from Josie, but she fails miserably. The chair catches on one of the tiles, causing it to tip backwards and Penelope with it. Josie can’t help but laugh at the action, even when Penelope just ends up sprawling herself on the floor in the middle of their kitchen. 

“No, Jo, don’t you da-” 

The two of them struggle on the floor once Josie reaches for the can of whipped cream, and she manages to get most of it off of her face- onto Penelope’s shirt. Josie gives up when she successfully manages to get the can out of Penelope’s hand and it rolls out of their reach. Penelope’s hands are around her wrists, holding them to her sides. 

They’re both trying to catch their breath after their little scuffle, and Josie can’t help but let her eyes flutter shut when Penelope moves closer, their lips barely brushing. 

“Can you two go somewhere else?! I don’t feel like puking right now!” 

Penelope lets go of Josie’s wrists immediately at Lizzie’s interruption, rolling her eyes. “Way to kill the mood, Lizzie.” 

Despite the interruption, Penelope is smiling at her and pressing a kiss to her cheek, as if it never really bothered her in the first place- Josie wonders if Penelope feels the same- that nothing else really matters, not as long as they’re together.

~

August quickly becomes Josie’s favorite month of the year, if that’s even a thing. She used to dread the end of August, knowing she would have to prepare for school and deal with peers that she works hard to forget during summer. 

Josie’s summer has always consisted of her spending as much time with her friends as possible, all of them finding the smallest reasons to hang out. 

This summer has been different, ever since August began. 

Instead of her hanging out with friends and Lizzie, or going to parties and drinking, it’s just been Penelope. 

Penelope, Penelope,  _ Penelope. _

Penelope spending the night and kissing her until the sun rises. Josie going to the comic shop Penelope works at during her shift and Penelope’s break is spent in the breakroom with Josie’s back pressed against the door. Them sitting in Josie’s car behind the mall and Penelope passing her a joint, or sometimes half of an edible. Penelope telling her to stop moving as she tries to draw Josie, insisting she’ll never get Josie’s face right if she keeps moving. Doodling on the napkins and gum wrappers left in Josie’s car. 

Josie likes moving when Penelope gets super focused, and Penelope looks like she’s ready to scribble out all of her work, but she calms Penelope down with a kiss. 

They go out for ice cream on Fridays, Josie bothers Penelope at work on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Penelope teaches her how to skate in the empty lot of Mystic Falls High on the weekends. Josie always has fun when she’s with Penelope, but it’s the most fun she’s had in years. The most she’s felt like she’s actually in place, somewhere she belongs.

A thunderstorm keeps them in one day, and they’re curled up on Josie’s bed, Penelope holding Josie from behind, her face buried into Josie’s neck. Josie’s never been a fan of the thunder, and it’s always calmed Penelope- almost polar opposites. Penelope never fails to fall asleep during a thunderstorm while Josie has to busy herself.

Penelope’s half asleep when it happens, and Josie doesn’t think Penelope even realizes what she says. Josie’s watching some movie on Netflix, and Penelope’s waking up, leaning on her elbows when Josie turns to look at her. 

“I love you.” 

Josie gets frozen to the spot. Before august started, they tossed those words around often, but it was more of a reminder between two friends, not a murmured confession from Penelope. If anything, they’ve been careful to  _ not  _ say it the past few weeks.

She doesn’t think Penelope even registers how she said the words herself, because she’s groaning dramatically and pushes the laptop away from Josie.

“Are you watching New Girl?” Penelope mumbles, pressing a kiss to Josie’s shoulder. 

“No.” Josie lies. 

“Liar.” 

“I  _ was _ watching New Girl,” Josie corrects. “Until you rudely interrupted me.” 

“Aw, I’m sorry for interrupting you,” Penelope says with a pout, and Josie rolls her eyes. Penelope doesn’t sound very apologetic, and she seems more than happy to distract Josie with some quick kisses. “I have to go, I got work soon.” 

“I’ll drive you.” 

“I’m taking a shower first.” Penelope tells her, getting out of bed and she takes her shirt off slowly, knowing that Josie’s watching. She tosses it in Josie’s direction after, and locks herself in the bathroom. 

Josie waits for Penelope while she takes her shower, busying herself by texting Hope and watching Glee. Penelope finishes quickly, showing back up in Josie’s room wearing nothing but a towel. 

The moment is strangely domestic for two seventeen year olds, with the two of them helping each other get ready without any words. It almost feels like they’re married. 

Josie doesn’t mind. In fact, she enjoys it. Being able to have her own little world with Penelope- something nobody else can touch, not even her father. 

It makes Penelope’s words ring in her ears.  _ I love you.  _ They carry a different meaning now- instead of it being a word shared between friends, it’s a whispered confession between the two of them. It weighs on Josie’s chest… no, it makes her feel a bit lighter, but she can still feel it on her skin. Burning every time Penelope whispers it. 

She drops Penelope off at the mall that day, and Penelope kisses her goodbye. Josie feels herself falling harder and harder- but she doesn’t have it in herself to stop. Instead of driving away like she usually does and going home to annoy Lizzie, she waits until she knows that Penelope’s clocking in for her shift.

Josie finds the store Hope works at, a small store in the corner of the mall, thankfully on a different floor than the shop Penelope works at. 

“Jo, hi!” Hope says excitedly. “What’s up?” 

“Hi, Hope!” Josie had sort of hoped that she wouldn’t be working right now, finding it weird to demand something from Hope, but she seems more than happy to help.

“What do you need?”

“I, uh… I need good pens for drawing. Or pencils, I don’t know…”

Hope looks at her knowingly, “For Penelope? You know, I’m always telling her she needs to get into drawing. She’s got a natural talent for it, but she won’t listen to me. Cuz I’m a painter, she says they’re too different for me to know she’s good at it.” 

“That sounds like Penelope.” Everyone who knows Penelope well knows that her personality around others is just a way to deter them- or to get them to do what she wants. 

Hope hums in agreement, and leads Josie throughout the store. They talk about how their summers have been since they parted ways after their trip to the beach. Hope now has a sweet boyfriend named Roman, and Josie tells her a bit about how her and Penelope have been spending more time together. She leaves out a lot of details, not knowing how Penelope would feel if she shared them with Hope. Josie’s sure that Penelope would eventually tell Hope herself. 

Hope helps her pick out the best set of colored pencils and pens, along with some sketch books that Hope recommends. Josie can’t help but buy a few more things, like glitter. She has no idea what Penelope would ever use it for, but she grabs some of that and a few small packets that are meant to be added to painting, so she ends up grabbing a set of paint and brushes, along with a few canvases. 

Josie thanks Hope profusely for her help when Hope begins to swipe the items, she even puts in her workers discount when Josie insists she doesn’t need it. 

Two days later, Josie’s behind the mall on Penelope’s birthday, demanding that Penelope leave her shift early.

Josie:  _ Meet me behind the mall.  _

Pen: _ no I’m working  _

Josie:  _ please? 🥺 _

Pen:  _ no❤️ _

Jo:  _ please🥺🥺 _

Jo:  _ isn’t your shift supposed to be over??? _

Jo:  _ peeeeeenny? _

Pen:  _ no  _

Pen:  _ let me work in peace _

Jo:  _ no _

Pen:  _ I’ll block u  _

Ten minutes after the last text Penelope sends, she’s tapping on Josie’s window and giving Josie a heart attack. 

“Let me in!” Penelope shouts over the music Josie had been blasting to keep her company, and she watches as Penelope yanks on the door handle as hard as she can, and fails miserably.

Josie unlocks the car, watches as Penelope registers the sound of it, and locks it again just in time. “Josie!” Penelope continues to yank on the handle for another minute or so before she gives up. Josie watches with her mouth agape as Penelope simply steps on her tire, and hoists herself onto the roof of the car. 

She cracks the window open. 

“Get off my roof!” 

“Let me in!”

“Get the fuck off my roof!” 

“No!”

With a dramatic sigh, Josie lowers her music and unlocks her car. She watches as Penelope nearly falls off her car, trying her best to stifle her laughter at the sight. Penelope yanks the car door open, but closes it carefully once she sits down. 

“How was work?” Josie asks. 

“Boring. I hate working for that Clarke creep.” 

“Be nice, he pays you.” 

“Yeah, but he’s a creep. Did I tell you he asked me about Hope? It was weird,” Penelope tells her, and Josie makes a face. “He did let me pick some free comics, so I’ll have to give them to MG when I see him again.”

Josie knows that Penelope’s going to read them before she passes them onto MG, but she doesn’t say anything. There’s no reason to embarrass Penelope. Besides, she knows Penelope would rather run away than admit that she enjoys comics just as much as MG does- or at all, for that matter.

“Well,” Josie says, “I just wanted to tell you happy birthday.” 

Penelope raises a brow. “You texted me that at midnight.” 

“I’m saying it again,” Josie reaches for the box in the back seat, carefully handing it off to Penelope. “Happy birthday.” 

Penelope holds the box out cautiously, “Aren’t we too old for presents?” 

“Just accept it.” 

“No,” Penelope replies, but she’s already opening the box, and the way her eyes light up make it worth it. “Jo, this is… Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” 

“I think Hope would be more excited than me if she saw all of this.” 

Josie rolls her eyes, “You’re always doodling, so I figured you’d like it. Maybe venture into painting with Hope.” 

“I love it, thank you.” Penelope tells her, and kisses her only to prove her point even further. 

Josie’s more than happy to accept. 

~

A week after Penelope’s birthday, and a few days before school begins, Penelope shows up to Josie’s front door with a painting of Baby Yoda. 

No warning call or text, just Penelope ringing the doorbell and Josie and Lizzie running to the door like a bunch of kids, elbowing and shoving each other the whole way. 

Lizzie loses interest the moment she realizes that it’s Penelope, not MG, and Josie’s interest is spiked by a tenfold. 

The painting is adorable, and when Josie says she loves it, she doesn’t miss the way Penelope blushes, ducking her head down in a way that makes Josie wonder if Penelope’s embarrassed. 

The painting is actually adorable, though. Josie wasn’t lying about it. Penelope had painted Baby Yoda holding his cup of soup, only the background is all purple and he’s surrounded by stars she painted- and stars that she glued around him, as if she  _ knew  _ that Josie would’ve asked if she could add them on herself later on. 

Her new obsession is partly Penelope’s fault. Penelope made Josie keep her promise to watch all things Star Wars related. It had taken Josie a month to get through the films (watching them the way Penelope had told her to, of course), then watching the Mandalorian. 

Josie texted Penelope at two in the morning obsessing over how cute he is. 

Josie puts the painting on her desk where she can see it whenever she walks into her room, and her and Penelope end up rewatching one of the Star Wars films, but not before they debate on if Rey deserved to take the Skywalker name, and if Solo was even necessary to the franchise. (They agree to disagree). 

Penelope even ends up pulling out the sketchbook that Josie had gotten her, and Josie’s more than surprised to find out that Penelope has already used at least half of the pages. She starts flipping through them, most of them impressive drawings of animals. Penelope tells her that it’s kept her company during her shifts. 

Josie stops at one page, quickly realizing that Penelope’s been drawing her. From  _ memory.  _ A faint blush covers Penelope’s cheeks when Josie asks her about it, and she even rubs the back of her neck awkwardly. 

“You’re beautiful, sue me for wanting to draw you.” Penelope murmurs. 

Josie rolls her eyes, not really believing it. It’s hard to believe that Penelope sees her like…  _ that.  _ Sure, Josie knows that she’s cute enough to get some attention from a few guys when she’s at school, but she’s not beautiful, not by any means. Not compared to Penelope or Lizzie. Or Hope. 

She flips the page, a bit surprised to find another drawing of herself, only it takes her a few seconds to realize it’s her. She’s about to ask Penelope who’s bare back she was drawing during work when she pays more attention to the details, the curl of hair, and the shape of the shoulders. It’s  _ her.  _ Josie can barely remember what she looks like, and Penelope’s drawing all of this from memory, unless… There was that night two or three days when Penelope spent the night, but Josie fell asleep wearing a tank top. 

Josie must make a small noise of shock in the back of her throat, because Penelope looks over and her face pales a bit. 

“You were drawing me when I was asleep?” 

“No! I was… shit, I’m sorry… I was just…” 

Josie doesn’t think she’s ever seen Penelope at loss for words like this. Penelope tries to take the book out of Josie’s hands, but Josie manages to yank it out of her reach at the last minute. 

She doesn’t know what she plans on doing with this information. She’s not really going to do anything with it. She’s just shocked. Penelope’s still trying to apologize, looking more nervous with every second that passes with Josie’s silence. 

Josie doesn’t know what possesses her to do it, but she finds it funny, and she has absolutely no idea how she says it without laughing. 

She lowers her voice, and in the most seductive voice she can muster, she leans closer to Penelope, dropping her eyes to Penelope’s lips, “You can draw me like one of your French girls.” 

“Oh, my god,” Penelope groans, her face suddenly regaining color- Josie never knew Penelope could turn that shade of red. She pushes on Josie’s shoulder. “No. Absolutely not.” 

Josie bats her eyes, “Why not?” She asks innocently. She even dares to pop open a button on her shirt, and Penelope swallows audibly, watching the movement carefully.

“Because… Your parents are downstairs! And, you’d have to, uh…” 

Josie can’t contain her laughter anymore, having to wipe away the tears that end up forming. Penelope stays silent the whole time, glaring at Josie as she takes her sketchbook back and shoves it into her backpack. 

“You’re the absolute worst.” Penelope grumbles once Josie calms down. 

“I’m sorry,” Josie offers, but she ends up breaking out into another round of laughter. “Okay. I’m sorry. It wasn’t funny.” 

Penelope continues to grumble, crossing her arms. “You’re right, it wasn’t.” 

Josie pouts when Penelope doesn’t accept her very serious apology, and her pout only grows when Penelope doesn’t accept her kiss, either.

“You’re stubborn.”

“You’re an asshole.” 

A roll of brown eyes, “Real charming, Penelope.” 

Penelope mutters something under her breath, but she loosens up and falls into Josie’s arms without hesitation when Josie asks if she could at least get a hug. 

Ten minutes later, Josie’s getting pressed to her mattress and Penelope’s taking her shirt off when she leans back, leaving Penelope in nothing but a lacy black bra and shorts that Josie is convinced are hers- not that it matters anyways. 

Josie short circuits. 

Of course, over the years of them being best friends and growing more comfortable with each other, Josie has seen Penelope in nothing but her underwear several times, but that’s  _ different.  _ Penelope wasn’t straddling her hips and kissing Josie like there’s no tomorrow. She wasn’t whispering dirty things into her ears. 

“ _ Jesus _ , you’re so beautiful.” Josie breathes out, and she feels like she’s the useless boy in some coming of age movie. She even cringes a bit on the inside at herself, despite how true she believes the statement to be. 

Penelope smiles crookedly, giggling a bit as she leans back down and presses a chaste kiss to Josie’s cheek. Runs her fingers through Josie’s hair and traces over her shoulders- she’s noticed that more recently- Penelope seems to love her shoulders, for whatever reason. 

“You’re one to talk, Princess.” Penelope replies, her voice dropping to a deadly serious tone that would usually concern Josie. “You’re gorgeous…” Penelope must think it’s not enough, because she scrunches her nose a bit as she thinks. “You’re ethereal, really.”

Josie’s throat runs dry at the comment. She doesn’t dare tell Penelope she doesn’t believe her, because she knows that Penelope will only send the rest of her life reminding Josie. She swallows, a futile attempt to help. She doesn’t think that any amount of water could help.

“T-thank you.” She stammers out.

Penelope smirks at the weakness, “You’re welcome, princess.” 

“Are you seriously gonna keep calling me that?” 

“Yes.”

Josie would never admit it, but she likes the nickname- only when Penelope says it, of course. She doesn’t ever want to hear anybody else say it. 

Josie sits up, bringing their faces close together. Their eyes lock, and Josie’s getting caught up by trying to count all the tiny gold flecks she sees floating around in green eyes, and she ends up getting distracted when Penelope speaks, focusing on swollen lips. 

It’s kind of sad, the more Josie thinks about it. How useless she becomes around Penelope. How she grows more embarrassing than anything.

“What?” 

“I asked if I can take your shirt off.” 

The Penelope in front of her is suddenly the unsure Penelope, the one Josie sees more and more often. She doesn’t know why she finds Penelope asking her such a simple question is so attractive. 

Oh, right. Because consent is sexy. 

Josie must take too long to answer, because then Penelope is the one stumbling over her words. 

“I didn’t- you don’t have-”

“It’s okay,” Josie assures, and begins to unbutton her shirt. “Give me a second.” 

She wants to slap herself. Who  _ says  _ that?

Penelope only laughs, and starts to help Josie when Josie tries to speed up the process and only ends up getting the buttons stuck on the fabric. Her shirt is eventually pushed off her shoulders, and it suddenly feels a thousand degrees hotter when Penelope’s skin presses against hers. 

It burns even, but in all the right ways. In all the ways that have Josie craving more, or wishing that she doesn’t ever stop burning. Penelope kisses her, and she forgets her own name. Penelope’s hands fall on her ribs, just under her bra and it feels like she’s been branded. 

She aches for more Penelope. Wants to tell Penelope that it’s okay, that she’s more than willing to have Penelope place her hand a little higher, have Penelope kiss her a little more roughly. 

She nearly caves when Penelope’s fingers ghost against her stomach, tracing a few shapes there. She nearly touches the band of Josie’s skirt, which has Josie letting out a frustrated groan. 

They haven’t gotten  _ that  _ far. Only heavy make out sessions with light groping that’s usually over clothes that are rudely interrupted by a phone- usually Penelope’s, or one of them panting out,  _ we should slow down,  _ and the other agreeing, despite what they  _ both  _ want. Or the spanking thing. That one was the worst.

They  _ should _ slow down. They really should. Josie’s parents are in the room just below hers, and she’s sure Lizzie is down the hall. On top of all of that, as much as Josie  _ wants  _ to, she’s not sure if she can handle that right now. She’s nervous about everything, and she doesn’t want to be making a fool of herself for the first time. 

Shit,  _ her  _ first time. 

Penelope pulls away, looking down at Josie as if she can read her thoughts.

“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” 

“Everything,” Josie admits, and before she can help herself, she’s rambling. “It’s nice right now, right? We don’t have to do anything else? I mean, I want to… with you, and I know it probably sounds stupid, but it doesn’t really feel like the right time. I’m so sor-”

“Jojo, we’re not doing anything you don’t want to do, don’t you dare apologize for that. We can stop right now if you want.” 

Josie feels relieved, glad that Penelope is so understanding. She knows that Penelope usually is, but it was still hard for her to  _ say it.  _

“Oh, okay. Cool. Cool,” Josie replies. She goes to apologize to Penelope for ranting, but stops herself. She taps at Penelope’s hip, watches as Penelope attempts to twist away- she always forgets that Penelope is ticklish there. “The kissing was nice.” 

“Yeah, it was.” Penelope agrees.

Josie waits for something else, but it never comes. Instead, Penelope never takes her eyes off of Josie, watching intently, waiting. 

“Can you kiss me again?” Josie asks, although it makes her feel a bit stupid. Like a kid asking for a lollipop. Penelope gives into her request kindly, pressing their skin together as she fuses their lips.

It leads them right back to where they started, only Josie’s moving a little more, reacting more boldly to Penelope’s touch and-

“Yo, Lizzie wants to know if- oh, god!”

_ Shit.  _

MG is standing in the doorway, hands over his eyes as he mumbles something to himself over and over again. Josie’s pretty sure he’s telling himself  _ don’t open your eyes _ . 

Penelope’s already pulling a shirt over her head, and handing Josie one as the two of them try to make it look like they were just watching a movie all along. 

“MG?” Josie asks softly, and he doesn’t respond, still mumbling to himself, hands over his eyes. 

“I got this,” Penelope whispers, and raises her voice when she turns her attention to their friend. “MG. It’s okay, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” 

“You sound like a mother,” Josie hisses. “He’s not going to respond if we talk to him like that.”

“Do you have better ideas? We just scarred the poor kid for life.” 

“Uh, Peez, Jo, I’m really sorry I didn’t knock, but uh… Lizzie wants to know if you want to go to Waffle House with us.” He doesn’t bother to uncover his eyes, but he does take a cautious step backwards, but he doesn’t step out of the door frame completely. When he turns, he runs right into the doorframe. 

“Oof.” Penelope reacts before MG does, and both of them are trying to console him. 

He finally removes his hands from his face, not quite meeting their eyes, “I guess this means you’re coming to Waffle House?” 

~

The day after the whole…  _ incident  _ with MG, Josie is reminded how bad MG is at keeping his mouth shut. 

Don’t get Josie wrong. She loves MG. He’s sweet and caring, extremely supportive to all of his friends, and Josie considers him one of her best friends- the kind you can only have after finding some weird unbreakable bond. 

Josie’s in the kitchen, waiting for Penelope to show up so they can walk to the last party of the summer- hosted by Sebastian and Lizzie- yay! 

She’s sipping on some water when her father walks in, takes some leftovers out of the fridge. She watches him as he internally debates on if he should have them or not, clearly hesitating before he just sighs and puts them in the microwave before pouring himself a cup of water. 

It’s one of those weird moments when he isn’t drunk or hungover, and Josie doesn’t know what to do with that information, because it usually leads to him being weirder than usual.

They’re on opposite ends of the counter when he speaks, and Josie wishes Penelope would show up  _ now,  _ so she can avoid whatever disaster of a conversation her father is about to launch them into.

“Uhm,” Alaric starts out, “Your mother brought it to my attention that you’ve been spending more time with Penelope recently.”

“We’re best friends.” 

“Well, uh… more than usual. She just wanted me to check in on you. You don’t think you’ve been spending too much time with her?” 

Oh god. 

Josie wants to cover her ears, or call her mom. She can’t believe that her mom is making her  _ dad,  _ out of all people to give her this talk. Somehow, it’d be less awkward and uncomfortable if her mother had asked Aunt Bonnie to do it. At least Aunt Bonnie actually knows about Penelope. 

Her father takes a sip of water, a bit dramatically, and places the cup on a napkin carefully before he begins to play with it, clearly not wanting to have this conversation with her.

“You know.” He clears his throat. “ _ Alone _ .” 

“Oh, my god! Dad!”

“Josie, I know it’s uncomfortable but I kind of need to know what you two are doing, so your fath-  _ mother _ ... and I can take the appropriate steps to help you in your romantic relationship with-”

Is he seriously reading off an index card? Did her mother give him a speech already prepared? What the hell? 

“Dad! Shut up!” 

“...Penelope? What, what’s wrong? Just sit down, where’s Lizzie? Lizzie!” 

“She’s out of the house.” Josie grumbles, despite the fact their father has been trying to enforce a curfew this week, and Lizzie’s out about two hours past the time. It’s kind of sad, she’s been out all day and their father is just realizing now?

“ _ Josette,”  _ Her father says in that warning tone when he wants her to listen. “I know talking about sex is uncomfortable… god, this would just be easier if I could just scare you and Penelope with teenage pregnancy…”

She hates it here. 

She really fucking does. 

Her father is still speaking, and Josie vows that she will never discuss her sex life with him- or in this case, lack of it. Not that she  _ needs _ a sex life. That’s a bit extreme for somebody her age. She grabs the cardigan that Penelope had forgotten the last time she was over, and sprints to the front door, ignoring the way her father calls after her.

When she opens the door, Penelope’s about to knock.

“Hey, baby,” Josie says quickly, grabbing Penelope’s wrist. “Let’s go, my dad is being weird again,” she explains quickly before shouting over her shoulder, “Dad, I’m leaving with Penelope! I’ll be back tomorrow!” 

She quickly realizes it’s not the best thing to say after the conversation he attempted to have with her, but she can’t find it in herself to care. 

They’re walking down the sidewalk, hands linked and Penelope’s staring at Josie. 

“What?”

Penelope smiles widely, “It’s nothing. Can’t I just be happy to see you?” A beat of silence. “ _ Baby.” _

Josie bumps their shoulders, “Leave me alone, it was a one time thing.” 

Penelope frowns, “Really? I liked it.” 

Josie rolls her eyes, not able to tell if Penelope’s serious or not. She’s heard too many couples with the excessive use of those pet names, but she guesses she can make an occasional exception when it comes to Penelope, since she apparently likes it so much. Her mind starts wandering back to the extremely awkward attempt of a sex talk with her father, and Penelope nudges her shoulder. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“My dad tried to give me the sex talk.”

Penelope chokes, “But we haven’t even done anything!” 

“I know, he was just being my dad,” Josie grumbles, “He was reading off an index card my mom left him!” 

Penelope laughs quietly, “C’mon, that part is kind of funny.” 

“No, it wasn’t.” 

“It was.”

“You weren’t there.” 

They arrive at Sebastian's house fairly quickly, when Penelope pulls her skateboard out of literally nothing, and they end up skating the rest of the way. The house is filled with students from the Salvatore School and Mystic Falls HIgh, Penelope being recognized by nearly everyone almost immediately. 

Penelope gives Josie an apologetic smile as she gets dragged off with some of her Mystic Falls friends. Thankfully, Rafael appears at Josie’s shoulder just as quickly as Penelope disappears. 

“Hey, Jo,” He smiles warmly as he pulls her into a hug, “Want a drink, I’m going to get a refill.” 

“I’ll come with.” She answers, and he makes his way to the kitchen, Josie close behind him. They make it to the kitchen in record time, everyone more than happy to make room for the star quarterback of Salvatore. 

He’s busy making Josie some strange smoothie like drink when he slides it over to her, and she gags after taking a sip, “How much rum did you put in here?!” She scolds, and he laughs. 

“Too much? I’ll make another one if you-” 

Josie takes another small sip, surprised to find that it tastes more like strawberries rather than alcohol, shaking her head, “It’s fine.”

His smile hasn’t disappeared since Josie’s ran into him, only shines more brightly as he leans forward, resting his elbows on the counter. “What’s going on with Penelope?” 

Josie’s cheeks immediately burn, the way they always do when somebody asks her about Penelope. “I don’t kiss and tell.” 

He laughs, but nods in agreement, “Fair enough, man. I thought you two were just friends.” 

“So did I,” Josie admits. If Penelope hadn’t kissed her at the start of August, Josie probably would have gone the rest of her life assuming her and Penelope are  _ just friends.  _ “But, uh, it’s nice that we’re not. I like her a lot.” 

The two of them end up catching up, and Josie learns that him and his girlfriend broke up, and she tells him about how her summer with Penelope has been. She missed talking to Rafael- she always talks to him more during the school year. 

After around an hour of them talking and sipping on their drinks, Penelope comes into the kitchen, finishing off the cup of beer somebody had given her before she tosses it into the trash. 

“Hi, Rafael,” She says, fingers finding the back of Josie’s neck before she leans in for a quick kiss. “Hey.” 

“Hey.” 

“Sorry I was gone for so long, they wanted me to play beer pong with them,” Penelope explains. “I barely got out alive.” 

“Hey, Penelope, did you actually save a shark, or was Josie lying?” Rafael asks once Penelope sits down, and Josie makes herself comfortable, abandoning her chair to sit on Penelope’s lap. 

“We saved one. We almost lost our hands.” Penelope swears, “Josie’s the one who saw it and wanted to save it.” 

Josie can’t remember exactly when, but the three of them get ushered into the living room and end up taking shots. 

It’s the first time Josie’s ever really drank like this at a party, and she’s glad it’s with Penelope. She loves Lizzie, but Lizzie has a habit of getting snippy when she’s drunk, and Penelope’s just smiling at Josie the whole time. 

“Bring out the shot ski!” Someone shouts out when Josie and Penelope finish their second shot with Rafael, and he groans. 

There’s a ski that’s suddenly put on the coffee table in front of the three of them, and Sebastian and Lizzie are suddenly joining. 

“Josie! How long have you been here?” 

“Uh, two hours?” 

“Good, take a shot with us. Satan, you’re taking one too, get your ass back over here.” 

It’s the nicest Lizzie has been to Penelope since the beginning of August. A crowd begins to form as Rafael pours some vodka- or is it rum? Into the glasses that are glued to the ski, and the five of them are all lining up, elbowing and tripping each other as they get into their places. 

Josie stares at it. 

Penelope pokes her. “You don’t have to drink it if you don’t want to.” 

“I know, it’s fine,” Josie smiles at her, managing to shove down the weird feeling she had just gotten. Penelope looks at her like she doesn’t believe her, and Josie leans down to press a kiss to her cheek, “Seriously, I can handle a few drinks.” 

Penelope seems convinced after, or she doesn’t want to start anything up in the middle of a party. Either way, a few party-goers are pulling out their phones to record them taking their shots, and Penelope’s smiling at her again, like she’s the only thing that matters. 

“Okay,” Sebastian shouts, “On three. One, two, three!” 

They take the shot together, the people watching them cheering loudly and encouraging them to take another, so they do. And then a third one. 

Lizzie drags Josie away after the third one, running off to find MG, because apparently Lizzie  _ needs  _ Josie for that kind of thing these days. She doesn’t mean to sound clingy or stupid, but she already misses Penelope’s absence and wonders what the girl is up to without her. They find MG, Hope, and Kaleb, and when Hope asks Josie where Penelope is, she just grumbles something about her being with Rafael the last she saw her. 

An hour passes. Josie has a few more drinks. Nearly two pass when her and Lizzie find their way back to the kitchen, and Josie gasps. 

Penelope doesn’t react, still talking to Rafael and laughing at something he said. Josie vaguely remembers that they’re at a party with incredibly loud music, and that Josie can barely hear herself. 

If it weren’t for the alcohol, Josie would have hesitated to walk over to the two of them, but she wastes no time, smiling victoriously when Penelope doesn’t hesitate to lean back into Josie’s touch. 

“Hey, baby, you disappeared for awhile.” 

“Lizzie dragged me away, sorry. Was Rafael boring you?” 

Penelope laughs, the sound vibrating through Josie, too. She has no idea how she manages to keep her hands (and lips) to herself. “No, we’re talking about college. He’s got a few people coming out to scout him.” 

Rafael forgot to mention  _ that  _ detail to Josie earlier. “Raf, that’s great!”

He shrugs, clearly not expecting the sudden attention from both of them, “It’s nothing. I don’t know if they’ll even like what I do.” 

“It’s still a pretty big deal.” Josie says, and Penelope agrees. 

He excuses himself a few moments later, probably off to make himself another drink judging by the way he looks into his empty cup. Penelope leads her out to the back patio, where it’s surprisingly empty and quiet. 

“You’re so short,” Josie comments. “Tiny.”

She can see the moment Penelope realizes that the name is going to catch on, but it doesn’t stop her from trying to deter from it, “I’m not  _ that  _ short.” 

“Tiny.” Josie declares drunkenly, like a little kid demanding for more food. 

“Okay,” Penelope sighs, “Time to go home?” 

“Okay.” Josie agrees. The music is too loud, the world is spinning, and she nearly trips and falls over nothing- thank god Penelope catches her. 

They go back inside, say goodbye to Lizzie and their friends, and Penelope leads Josie back home. 

The ten minute walk to Penelope’s house takes much longer than it should, between Josie sitting on Penelope’s skateboarding and demanding Penelope pushes her, to Josie realizing that she forgot her phone at the party. She doesn’t think she’s ever seen Penelope run so fast. It takes thirty minutes, but Josie has no idea it takes them that long until she sees the time on the microwave in Penelope’s kitchen. 

“It’s 2:45!?” Josie exclaims, and Penelope quickly shushes her. 

The light down the hall turns on and Penelope cringes, shoving a water bottle into her hand, and practically shoves a piece of gum into Josie’s mouth. “Just stay quiet, okay?” 

“Penelope?” Violet asks, emerging from her room in pajamas, toothbrush in hand. “Oh, you brought Josie?” 

“Yeah, ma. We’re just about to go to bed.” Penelope answers quickly.

“Hi, Mama Park.” Josie says, waving from behind Penelope. 

Violet looks a bit amused by Josie’s antics, “Did you girls drink?” 

“No.” 

“Yes.” 

Penelope sighs. Josie smiles at Violet, who smiles kindly back. It’s not like they were doing a good job at hiding the fact that they’ve both had something to drink. 

“Yeah, but I’m not drunk-  _ that  _ drunk,” Penelope confesses. “We’re just going to make- going to bed. We’re going to bed. Right, Jojo?” 

“Yeah. Sleep.” Josie comments uselessly, although she could have sworn Penelope said they were going to make out, and she’s certainly open to that idea. 

Penelope manages to get Josie into her room, leaving Josie alone for a few moments while her mother talks to her out in the hall. 

Josie has been into Penelope’s house a few times, and Penelope’s room even less. It’s strange; she’s been friends with Penelope for years, but it’s one of the first times she’s actually  _ in  _ Penelope’s room. She ends up sitting on the edge of Penelope’s bed, waiting for her to come in. She feels a bit awkward, too. It’s a side of Penelope that she knows, but she’s never really  _ seen  _ it. 

“Josie?” 

“Hmm?” 

“You want something to change into?” Josie looks over at Penelope and finds her holding a small pile of neatly folded clothes. She accepts the offer, and Penelope turns around when she takes off her shirt- she got beer on it, anyways. 

Once she’s done changing, she pouts. “These are  _ my  _ clothes.”

Penelope blushes. “No, they’re not.”

“Yes, they are.” 

“Just go brush your teeth,” Penelope orders, and Josie obeys, still grumbling about how the pair of shorts and tee Penelope had just loaned her belong to her. There’s a plus, though- now they smell like Penelope. “Not with my toothbrush!” 

Josie has no idea what time it is when she finds herself next to Penelope, arm tossed over her waist carelessly as she rests her head on her shoulder, but it doesn’t matter. She likes starting and ending her day with Penelope next to her, even if it’s just like this. With Penelope running her fingers through her hair, and Josie toying with Penelope’s free hand. It makes Josie feel like they’re the only two people on the planet, and it  _ comforts  _ her. Knowing that whatever happens between them, whatever shared whispers happen, it’s always just the two of them. 

She can’t believe it’s only been a month. A month of getting to see Penelope in a new light- she’s always known Penelope well, but Penelope always manages to surprise her and make her feel emotions she’s not even aware of. Not in the way that makes Josie confused, but in a way that makes her feel… content. She’s always felt that way with Penelope, but after the last month, more so.

Josie thinks that it would be easier if it were confusing, because when things fall apart, she could just blame it on them being teenagers. 

It starts in August, and it’s the best month of Josie’s life.

It falls apart in August, too. 

  
  


_ I can see us lost in the memory _

_ August slipped away into a moment in time _

_ 'Cause it was never mine _

_ And I can see us twisted in bedsheets _

_ August slipped away like a bottle of wine _

_ 'Cause you were never mine _


End file.
